Wednesday, March 26, 2008

NASA's science chief resigns

It's hard to know what to make of the news that Alan Stern, NASA's top-ranking science official, and John Mather, the agency's Nobel-prize-winning chief scientist, have decided to leavetheir posts, but the shake-up can't be good for the agency.

Stern took the helm in April 2007, moving to NASA headquarters in Washington, DC, from a top spot at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, where he headed up NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto.

So far, the response to Stern's departure has been negative. Louis Friedman, executive director of the space advocacy group The Planetary Society said in a statement: "We are sorry to learn of Alan Stern's resignation . . . . During his tenure, Alan made significant changes that have helped restore the importance of science in NASA's mission. This was especially true in the 2009 budget proposal, which included two overdue Earth science missions and an outer planets flagship mission."

"[Stern] was working under extraordinarily difficult budget constraints, dealing with many issues beyond his control," the statement continues.

Keith Cowing, editor of the independent website NASA Watch, puts the blame for Stern's resignation squarely on Griffin: "Mike Griffin seems to have an uncanny ability to cause anyone with talent, energy, and dedication to walk away from NASA. This departure by Alan Stern is troubling - no, it is downright depressing. Indeed, I think it clearly signals the end of Mike Griffin's ability to credibly manage the agency."

But Cowing also posted part of an email attributed to Stern that reads: "I . . . want you to know that Mike and I remain on good terms. He remains in my eyes the best Administrator NASA has ever had."

Stern said he will leave in the next few weeks, and NASA says Edward Weiler, director of the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will temporarily step in as associate administrator for science, a post he had held from 1998 to 2004.

What do you think these resignations mean for NASA? Does the loss of such well-respected scientists suggest that the agency can never be reformed?

...Actually, I think the ruckus is merely more of Keith Cowing's perpetual tirade against NASA, having still not gotten over his being fired by NASA quite some time back. His bias against the agency is pretty well known - and derided - by space historians and space policy analyists, and anytime he cries "foul!" or "conspiracy!", everyone breaks out the boxes of salt to throw over our shoulders.

Actually, I think Alan's plan for sample return is very unrealistic. And, so does the Mars community.... its pointless sacrificing 3 launch opportunities for a sample return 10 years from now... that's not even funded adequately at this point time. In a way, I am glad to see him go.

I don't see how you can expect tight budgeting from scientists...that's absolutely impossible anywhere in the world. And without money, science cannot be done.Even theoretical, unfortunately, but that's other story.Whatever, NASA is sinking ship...

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